Johnstown man sentenced for shooting

Joseph R. Miller, 20, gets 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison

March 30, 2013

JOHNSTOWN - A Johnstown man was sentenced Thursday to 1 1/3 to four years in state prison for his involvement in the shooting of a woman in Gloversville last May.

Joseph R. Miller, 20, of Cummings Avenue, was sentenced by Judge Polly A. Hoye as part of a plea arrangement. He must also make restitution, along with the co-defendants, to the victim.

Miller was indicted by a county grand jury in September on charges of second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Miller had been arrested by Gloversville police in July on the same charges in the shooting, which severely injured Danielle Schonfarber. The indictment says he "did recklessly cause serious physical injury" to Schonfarber by "recklessly discharging" a .223 Olympic Arms semiautomatic rifle inside a residence at 174 Spring St. Several people were in the residence.

"It was the early morning hours," county District Attorney Louise Sira said last fall. "At the time, they were attempting to maneuver the gun to try to fix some sort of defect and it went off."

The indictment says the weapon "was discharged toward and struck" Schonfarber, causing serious injury to her abdomen and hip. She has since recovered.

Schonfarber, who lives outside the city, was airlifted to Albany Medical Center Hospital for emergency surgery after the incident. She was released from the intensive care unit by May 21.

Miller was indicted for allegedly possessing the rifle at the time of the shooting.

The reckless endangerment count in the indictment alleges Miller on May 17 showed "a depraved indifference to human life" and "recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to another person by recklessly firing a shot" from the loaded rifle "in the direction" of Schonfarber. Officers later found the weapon hidden behind a shed at the residence.

Corey A. Wollard, 21, whose last address was Seabrook, N.H., when he was a fugitive from justice, pleaded guilty March 14 before Judge Hoye to one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Police said Wollard brought the weapon to the residence. He is scheduled to be sentenced later to two to six years in state prison as part of a plea arrangement.

Gloversville police also charged Michael Perreault, 23, of 174 Spring St., where the incident occurred, with attempting to tamper with physical evidence, a misdemeanor.